Month: March 2017

How was your week? It snowed in Toronto last night, so spring continues to let me down. Might have to put my tips to jazz up a regular weekend to good use again this week. Here’s what I’ve been reading:

Vulture – Why Bones Was One of the Most Interesting Love Stories on TV
I spent a semester in university marathoning every available season of Bones — at that time, this meant speeding through 8 seasons, or 165 episodes — while studying for exams and writing papers. Whether or not this was a valuable use of my time remains to be seen, but I can still hum the theme song from memory, and that has to count for something, right?

Food & Wine – Food Safety Experts Are Not Pleased with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Cookbooks
Spoiler alert: it’s because her meat recipes don’t include a final cooking temperature, which could put people at risk of consuming undercooked meat and contracting food poisoning. But Gwyneth’s not alone; few cookbooks include this type of information, relying instead on visual or tactile clues (“roast until juices run clear” and the like) to indicate when a dish is done. Point is, if you’re worried about salmonella, you should become familiar with recommended food temperatures and invest in an instant-read kitchen thermometer to make sure your food is cooked properly, rather that relying solely on instructions.

Extra Crispy – Why Snoozing Actually Makes You Lose Sleep
You’ve heard it before, but here it is again: hitting snooze in the morning is bad for you. I say this as someone who sets half a dozen staggered alarms every morning and gets up long after the last one has been silenced. Maybe it’s time for a sleep schedule, or even going back to using an alarm clock instead of my phone. What about you? Do you have any tips to avoid oversnoozing in the morning?

How was your week? Listen, I know what you’re thinking: “Sarah, you just posted about carrot cake a couple of weeks ago.” And you’re not wrong. But hear me out! First of all, this is carrot bread. And second of all … okay, fine. You’re right. Here’s what I’ve been reading:

Vulture – The Year of Living Publicly
You’ve probably seen this profile of Jenny Slate posted all over the Internet — I guess the Chris Evans connection makes this story pretty juicy — but you should read it because Jenny Slate seems like a hilarious, genuinely nice person. Another good read: Chris Evans Fights Back (the title makes it sound like he and Jenny are fighting, but really it’s just about being a superhero).

Food & Wine – How Your Instagram Posts Created a New Starbucks Drink
It’s satisfying to see a brand listen to customers and move so quickly to put a popular “secret” item on the menu to offer a consistent experience, like Starbucks did with the Cold Buster, though I’m still on the fence about steamed lemonade. Has anyone tried this drink yet? Did you like it?

Last Monday was the first day of spring, which seems hard to believe given the negative temperatures and bare trees in Toronto this week. This, combined with the fact that there are no long weekends in March this year, has made it difficult to really, truly enjoy weekends. Sure, the days are getting longer, but it’s freezing and I can’t sit on a patio. Sure, I could stay home and binge-watch a Netflix series, but I want real, “thank goodness Monday is a holiday”-type R&R. What’s a girl to do?

Frigid, rainy weather be damned: with a little imagination, any weekend can become a long weekend, regardless of whether or not Monday is a work day. Here’s how I plan to spend my faux-long weekend:

How was your week? Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Remember: stay away from green beer (gross) and don’t say “St. Patty’s Day” — it’s Paddy, derived from the Irish Pádraig, not patty, which is what you put in a burger. Okay, now go have fun! Here’s what I’ve been reading:

Food & Wine – The Crucial Reason Why Honey Nut Cheerios’ Mascot is Missing
Have you noticed that Buzz has vanished from Cheerios packaging? I wondered about this during a recent trip to the grocery store. Turns out that the new packaging is part of a General Mills campaign to raise awareness about disappearing bee colonies. They’re giving away bee-friendly wildflower seeds to help #BringBackTheBees — you can sign up for free seeds every Monday to do your part!

The Guardian – Charli XCX: the mixtape mystery and a pop career in flux
Chances are, you know Charli XCX even if you’ve never head of her (good luck getting her hook on Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” out of your head now that I’ve brought it up). Like Kesha, JoJo, and many other pop stars before her, she’s been absent from the charts as a lead artist for years now due to — what else? — a dispute with her label. If “Dreamer,” the lead track off her new mixtape Number 1 Angel, is any indication of what her delayed third album has in store, then we’re in for a treat if and when Atlantic releases it. #FreeCharli

It’s March 14th, aka 3/14 or 3.14, and you know that that means — Pi Day! Seeing as so much of the East Coast is housebound due to a blizzard, it’s a great day to tackle a pie project, because pie is a) delicious, and b) a great way to pass the time when you’re stuck indoors. I’ve rounded up a few of my favourite savoury and sweet pie recipes, most of which can be made using pantry ingredients and won’t require a trip to the grocery store:

How was your week? I’m visiting my parents for the weekend, which means lots of good meals and a visit to my favourite flea market with my dad on Sunday morning. Can’t complain! Here’s what I’ve been reading:

On March 6, 1834, the town of York incorporated as the City of Toronto. Back then, the city’s population topped out at 10,000 inhabitants split between 5 wards. (By contrast, the 2016 census puts Toronto’s current population at 2,731,571 in 44 wards.)

How was your week? This post is up bright and early because we’re going on a mini-road trip to Syracuse today to watch some sports and hang out for the weekend. I have a lengthy list of bars and coffee shops to try and I am READY. Here’s what I’ve been reading:

Bon Appetit – What It’s Like to Be Rihanna’s Personal Chef
Doesn’t this job sound amazing and also extremely scary? What if Rihanna didn’t like my croque-madame? But it seems like Debbie Solomon is killing it: “That [certain and elegant] demeanor is likely one of the reasons Solomon has been so successful at her wildly unpredictable job: She gets what the perks are, but she understands the stakes, too.”

Fortune – Meet the Only Woman Who Knows the Oscar Winners Before You Do
I read this article on Sunday morning, a few hours before the Oscars. I thought it was interesting to know more about how the results are administered, but I never thought this background information would become so relevant. YIKES. To echo a million thought pieces on the subject: Moonlight deserved better.

The Atlantic – How Will History Remember Your Lifetime?
This is cool. Apparently, I’ve never lived in a world without Macintosh computers; I became a teenager the same year Can’t Hardly Wait was released; and at this moment, my life can be divided into two halves: before and after the International Space Station. #thisis31